What was claimed
A picture shows Andy Burnham on a run surrounded by a film crew.
Our verdict
This picture has been manipulated to include people with cameras and microphones in the foreground.
An image of the Prime Minister Andy Burnham running near his home in Cheshire has been edited to include a film crew in the foreground.
It has been shared on Facebook and X with claims that the Prime Minister is doing “social media for the cameras”.
The fake image very closely resembles a genuine one taken on 25 July by PA Media.
There are several differences between the real and fake images. In the real image a black car is parked facing the police car. In the fake picture a reddish car is facing away from the police vehicle.
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The license plate of the police car in the fake image doesn’t seem to exist and doesn’t match the real one that can be seen in other images of the PM on his run taken around the same time.
The fake picture also contains a SynthID watermark from OpenAI, indicating it was “generated with OpenAI tools” such as ChatGPT, the OpenAI API or Codex. Glitches such as disembodied feet, cars merging into each other in the background and a boom microphone coming out of a hedge are further clues the image has been manipulated with artificial intelligence.
Before sharing content like this that you come across online, it’s important to consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source. Our misinformation toolkit contains tips on how to do this, as does our guide to spotting AI fakes.
